Seattle Schools Community Forum

I ask this question as two large parent issues are looming large right now.  Those issues are Building Leadership Teams (BLTs) and PTA.

The Board has a policy F20.00 (last revised April 1996) around school governance.  It speaks of "school governance structures such as, but not limited to, local site councils, leadership teams and/or school management teams." I have also heard from parents that parents are not always included on Building Leadership Teams (BLTs).  There are also Site Councils which can include parents and students as well as staff.  The BLTs are much more building governance and Site Council is more about planning and goals. But one key item that generally happens if your school does has a Site Council is that they have some degree of input in any principal search.   I'd be interested if readers could let me know what the structure is at their school. I'd also be interested in readers who ask their principals about Site Council and/or BLT.  My experience is that this "school governance" that includes parents is very hit or miss and is largely dependent on the princi...

Two items have come up that only solidify my belief that the district has a very odd relationship with principals.  I say odd because there is no real way of knowing what the district will tighten the screws on and what they will completely look the other way on. One key issue is WHY principals make some of the decisions that they do and where they get the stated support for some decisions.   Principals say "their community" wants something and yet sometimes the PTA doesn't even know what is happening.  I have found that principals are people with their own philosophies and beliefs about education.  The problem is that a school can have a district program in them as well as a stated focus for the school.  I find it vexing that a new principal can come in and almost sweep all that away.   You can have parents, on the ground at their schools, telling Ex. Directors and others, "this is happening at my school" and the district will ignore it or shrug. I...

Building Leadership Teams (BLTs) exist at every SPS school (or should). There should be parent/community representation at every SPS school's BLT (or should).  That representation should NOT be controlled by the principal. There should be bylaws written and readily available for anyone to be able to access about the decision-making process for each school. Let us know how the BLT at your school works. A huge thank you to  Ann Donovan  who pulled all this info together.  Follow her on Twitter: @ann_donovan for great ed news in one place.

Well, that was interesting.  I'm sorry there were so few people there (but my experience is that many people never go to SCPTSA meetings anyway, choosing to go to their school PTA meeting). As usual, they had food (so no one goes hungry) and welcoming faces.  I note that the Board is a multi-racial one.  (SCPTSA President Katherine Schomer later mentioned that they have been unable to find a rep from either the NW or NE.  So much for that theory that the NE runs SCPTSA.) Much of the entire senior staff was in attendance including Superintendent Banda. President Schomer started the meeting by acknowledging their contact list has problems and they have been struggling with it since fall.  Apparently the state PTA has had issues of sending SCPTSA updated information on what PTAs are members and who their contacts are. As well, the SCPTSA is working on a new website . They did talk about the state PTA convention coming up from April 25-27th over in Belle...

Just received this (partial) notice from Dr. Enfield and SCPTSA President, Lauren McGuire (highlights in red mine): On Monday, Oct. 17, we are jointly hosting an SCPTSA Fall General Meeting from 7-8:30 p.m. at the John Stanford Center for Educational Excellence, 2445 3rd Avenue South, to talk about how to best ensure all of our families are truly engaged and connected to our schools.  Have you ever wondered about how to get involved or what role you can play in your school’s decision-making process? Join us next Monday, Oct. 17 and get your questions answered . We will be there, along with School Board Vice President Michael DeBell and members of the District leadership team, to discuss and answer questions about the School Board's policies on School Governance.  All school communities and family members are welcome, whether or not your school has a PTSA. As part of our work together, we want to remind families how important it is to get involved in your school.  R...

I have been made aware that in addition to the concerns over the quick growth at Lowell, that there are tensions within the community.  Most of the tension seems to be coming from actions by the Principal Greg King and both teachers and parents are very unhappy.  It may all come to a head before school lets out but this is no way to end a school year and go into new year. I cannot say I know the complete story but I am fairly sure of what issues have arisen. clashes between the principal and staff over passing out and collection of staff surveys.  Apparently some staff felt it was not handled properly and the principal called out a couple of teachers (SEA) who were sitting together.  I know that SEA has gotten involved as there are strict rules over who can handle the surveys and they apply to principals as well as teachers. the BLT (Building Leadership Team).   Apparently the principal dissolved the duly elected BLT and reconstituted it without...

I saw this agreement last night, hot off the district presses, but for some reason, the network I was on at headquarters wouldn't let me sign on here so I couldn't post it. The Labor Relations page has all kinds of versions of the agreement information (but ignore the Fast Facts - it's useless). There are some interesting things and some things I think are vague and wonder what they mean. Maybe some teachers out there can help us. I did attend the Work Session on Maintenance (interesting) and about half the Board meeting (also interesting)but I'll post separate threads on those. From the agreement: looks like seniority is in and super seniority is out. I think the premise here is that if you start from a place where ALL teachers are good, then you have to have some mechanism to figure out who goes if there are RIFs and the union says seniority. (Yes, I know, that's mighty big if.) On the other hand, I think the union gave in at super seniority which probabl...